ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi, I am a first-year Enriched Health and Life Sciences student with plans to pursue a career in the field of dentistry. I’ve always been passionate about social issues, and I’m so grateful to be able to explore them through my writing. I wrote this essay for my Introduction to College English course because I wanted to bring awareness to the experiences of Indigenous peoples in Western society through the perspectives of Alicia Elliott and Thomas King. Thank you to Lorne Roberts for his support throughout the writing process and to the Dawson English Journal for publishing my work.

–Meaghan Gagnon

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Canada has been built upon the systemic oppression and genocide of Indigenous peoples. From the early days of colonization, settler policies were designed to eradicate Indigenous identities, dismantle their cultural heritage, and force Indigenous people into assimilation. The vile words of R. H. Pratt, the founder of the first residential school in the United States, “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man,” epitomize the violent goal behind these efforts; this was especially true in the residential school system, which ruthlessly sought to strip Native children of their cultural identity and traditions. In Unearth by Alicia Elliot, the protagonist, Beth, grapples with the devastating loss of her brother to a residential school and the lasting impacts of this colonial violence, which she experiences through her sensory connection to food and taste. The memories of her brother are inextricably linked to flavours and meals, symbolizing the way trauma lingers in fundamental aspects of her daily life. In A Short History of Indians in Canada by Thomas King, the story serves as a profound allegory, using the metaphor of birds crashing into skyscrapers to illustrate how Indigenous peoples’ ways of life have been violently and forcefully disrupted and erased. Beth’s associations with taste in Unearth and the metaphor of the birds in A Short History of Indians in Canada demonstrate how ignorance, oppression, and assimilation policies have historically perpetuated the erasure of cultural identity and the displacement of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Beth’s associations with taste in Unearth symbolize the irreparable harm perpetrated on Indigenous peoples through the systemic eradication of their cultural identities. Beth’s life has been profoundly shaped by significant trauma due to the church’s assimilation ideals, which sought to sever her from her Native roots. This trauma is embodied through the tastes she associates with these memories. For instance, “Beth’s mouth suddenly filled with the taste of carbon—a taste she’d always associated with Henry’s disappearance” (Elliot 1). This passage reveals the deep psychological scars left by colonial oppression, scars that are a constant reminder of her loss. Later in the story, Beth begins her vital healing journey, attempting to reconnect with her family’s traditions and memories: “Maybe (her brother) tried to pretend the stringy gruel they were fed was this corn mush, as she had so many years ago. Beth added a dollop of maple syrup, stirred it, then brought it to her lips. It tasted just like she remembered” (4). This moment demonstrates her effort to heal from her past while reconnecting with it. However, the addition of maple syrup, originally discovered by Indigenous people in Canada but later appropriated by white European settlers, serves as a bitter reminder of the deep, inescapable impact of assimilation policies on Indigenous peoples. Her life experiences, associated with different flavours, reinforce how deeply oppression continues to shape her, even during her process of healing.

The disruption of the birds, referred to as “Indians” in A Short History of Indians in Canada serves as a powerful metaphor for how the Western world has disrupted Indigenous ways of life and attempted to erase their presence altogether. For example, when “Bob looks up just in time to see a flock of Indians fly into the side of a building. Smack! Smack! … Whup! An Indian hits the pavement in front of him” (King 1). This vivid and violent imagery illustrates how settler Canadians have uprooted Indigenous peoples from their traditional ways of life, leaving them disoriented and harmed as they are forced to navigate a society that devalues their histories and disregards their humanity. Once free and autonomous, formerly nomadic populations are now navigating a society that prioritizes urban expansion, economic power, and western ideals, despite being the land’s original inhabitants. This forced adaptation is further demonstrated by contrast with the birds’ past freedoms: “In the old days, when they came through, they would black out the entire sky” (3). Untouched by European interference, pre-contact Indigenous peoples lived free and thrived. This starkly contrasts with their current reality, where they have been stripped of their autonomy, displaced and left to endure a world that seeks to erase their presence. Ultimately, the allegory of the birds crashing into skyscrapers underscores the violent disruption caused by colonization and its utter disregard for the lives of those who inhabited Canada long before the first European settlers arrived.

Both Unearth and A Short History of Indians in Canada expose how Western society erases Indigenous identities and marginalizes their existence. In Unearth, the discovery of Henry’s remains on the grounds of a former Residential school, now being replaced by a fast food restaurant, exemplifies this erasure: “They found him while laying the groundwork for a fast food restaurant. She forgot the name as soon as the officer said it—not McDonald’s, not Wendy’s. No, it was something new, something flashy and fleeting” (Elliott 1). This stark image shows how Indigenous people are treated as insignificant, having not only their history paved over but also their identities and voices. Similarly, in King’s A Short History of Indians in Canada, Rudy’s dismissive words reinforce the deliberate erasure of Indigenous presence: “Don’t worry, says Rudy. By the time the commuters show up, you’ll never even know the

Indians were here” (King 3). This callous statement exemplifies how white settlers erase Indigenous presence in favour of urban development, showing how truly insignificant they believe Indigenous people to be. Both stories show how Indigenous people are both literally and figuratively buried beneath the weight of the western world, their voices and stories silenced in the process.

Unearth and A Short History of Indians in Canada emphasize the devastating consequences of Canada’s ethnocentric ideals, which have directly caused the oppression and the attempted erasure of Indigenous peoples’ core identities while displacing entire communities. In Unearth, Beth’s associations with taste capture the lasting trauma caused by the Church’s assimilation efforts, while  her healing journey demonstrates the difficulty of reclaiming identity in a world that continues to marginalize her community. Similarly, in A Short History of Indians in Canada, The allegory of birds crashing into skyscrapers symbolizes the violent disruption of Indigenous ways of life and the complete disregard for their histories in favour of urbanization. Both stories represent how Indigenous members of society have been literally and figuratively buried by Westerners, silenced and reduced to an afterthought in their own land. Together, these stories expose Canada’s shameful history of genocide and systemic oppression of the Indigenous population, a history Indigenous people will continue to carry. As a nation, it is crucial to acknowledge this history and work toward meaningful reconciliation, not through empty words or insincere acknowledgements, but through the amplification of Indigenous voices, taking concrete actions to address the harm we have caused them, and most importantly, honouring their histories.

 

Works Cited

Elliott, Alicia. “Unearth.” Grain, 2017.

King, Thomas. “A Short History of Indians in Canada.” A Short History of Indians in Canada: Stories, HarperCollins, 2005.